


Constants

by avianscribe



Series: Shatter My Universe [5]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Prophecy (Final Fantasy XV), Child Ignis Scientia, Child Noctis Lucis Caelum, Child Prompto Argentum, Gen, Minor Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Uncle Ardyn Izunia, but it's not discussed in any depth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avianscribe/pseuds/avianscribe
Summary: There are three constants in Noct’s short life.First, his mom and dad are always there for him when he needs them. He doesn’t have to question.Second, when they can’t be near (they are Important and Busy), he has his nursemaid.Third, his Uncle Ardyn is really, really strange.
Relationships: Ardyn Izunia & Noctis Lucis Caelum, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia, Noctis Lucis Caelum & Regis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum
Series: Shatter My Universe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1315634
Comments: 40
Kudos: 122





	Constants

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly an excuse to write Crazy Uncle Ardyn, and I had a blast doing it. It's not particularly deep, but I'm sharing it nonetheless. 
> 
> This is based on the universe I set up for [Chapter 24 of Cracked](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276621/chapters/46767334) \-- the Uncle Ardyn chapter.

There are three constants in Noct’s short life. 

First, his mom and dad are always there for him when he needs them. He doesn’t have to question.

Second, when they can’t be near (they are Important and Busy), he has his nursemaid.

Third, his Uncle Ardyn is really, really strange.

* * *

The garden is Noct’s favorite hiding place. It is quiet, there usually aren’t a lot of people there, and there are a _lot_ of places to hide. 

And he is hiding _now._

“Where are you, dear Noctis? I know you’re here.” 

That is Uncle Ardyn. 

At least, that’s what Noct’s dad calls him. But Noctis isn’t sure what exactly “uncle” means. He just knows that Uncle Ardyn isn’t his dad, but he’s family somehow. He is always here -- except when he _isn’t,_ because he sometimes goes on trips that take him away from the Citadel. The grown-ups never tell Noctis what Uncle Ardyn _does_ on those trips, but Uncle Ardyn always comes back with the most amazing stories to tell, about battles and villains, and in all the stories, Uncle Ardyn wins.

Uncle Ardyn has weird-colored hair that he keeps in a long ponytail. He wears light-colored clothes -- a beige coat, white button-ups, slacks… though sometimes he wears brightly-colored scarves with it, and now and then he’ll wear a misshapen hat, too. He wears lots of layers, even in the summer. (“The sun doesn’t agree with me,” he told Noctis once, when he’d asked why Uncle Ardyn didn’t wear shorts or T-shirts when it was warm.)

Now, Uncle Ardyn is looking through the garden for him, and Noctis is determined not to make it easy. He crawls deep into the potted plants at the rear of the garden and hunkers down between the tall pots. Peeking between the pots, he sees Uncle Ardyn’s legs pass completely by without stopping. Noctis claps a hand over his mouth when he starts to giggle.

“Where are you, little bird?”

Uncle Ardyn always gives weird names to people. But Noctis knows better than to answer. He’s wearing his usual black, and the plants in the pots have leaves larger than Noct’s head. He’s _sure_ Uncle Ardyn can’t see him. Nobody can, because Noctis can’t see anyone. 

At least… he _was_ sure, until a hand falls on his shoulder.

“Got you,” Uncle Ardyn says, and lifts him bodily from among the plants.

Noctis wriggles in Ardyn’s hands, and yells, “Awww, no fair! You used magic again!” 

“Alas, no,” Uncle Ardyn says. “Your eyes are too blue and stand out, even in the dark, little one.” 

Noctis curls his mouth in a pout, and is about to say he had his eyes closed -- he had! -- but before he can do it, Uncle Ardyn starts talking again _._ “Your father sent me to fetch you,” he says. “It’s time for dinner.”

That forestalls all pouting and arguments, and Noctis walks hand-in-hand with Uncle Ardyn to the Dining Hall.

Uncle Ardyn often eats dinner with Noctis and his parents at the long table there. Noctis hates the Dining Hall, because it means he has to eat green things. But he mostly doesn’t eat them. He mostly manages to slip them to the floor, where the servants will take care of them and _he_ doesn’t have to taste them. (Sometimes his dad catches him doing it and gives him a frown that means he’ll get a talking-to about eating properly, but how can something that tastes that _bad_ be _good_ for him?)

Tonight, next to the cut-up pieces of chicken and the long, hollow noodles with a red sauce, there are long green things that his dad calls _green beans._ As far as Noctis is concerned, they are the absolute worst. He scrunches up his nose at them but doesn’t say anything, because then his dad would insist that he eat them, and _he doesn’t want to._

He hears a low chuckle, and looks across the table to Uncle Ardyn’s smiling face. Uncle Ardyn makes a shushing motion with his fingers, which usually means he’s going to show Noctis something that his dad probably won’t approve of, so Noctis hides his smile.

Then Uncle Ardyn does something that Noctis hardly ever sees the adults do: he picks up one of the _green beans_ in his fingers. He twirls it lazily, and then with a snap and a sparkle of the Crystal’s magic, the bean disappears.

Noctis gasps.

“What is it, Noct?” his mom asks. “Is everything all right?” 

Noctis looks sheepishly to the head of the table, to see both his parents looking at him curiously. 

“I’m fine,” he says, and scoops up a bite of the noodles. They are okay. When his parents return to quietly chatting with one another at the other end of the table, Noctis swallows without chewing the rest and picks up a bean in his own fingers. “Show me how to do that,” he hisses. 

Uncle Ardyn smiles. “In good time, little one,” he says quietly.

* * *

It doesn’t take long. The first time Noct’s dad actually catches him doing it at dinner, his face twists like he can’t decide whether to be furious or impressed.

* * *

Noctis is hiding in the garden again, but this time, his own father comes to find him. Uncle Ardyn _can’t_ , because he’s away -- and has been for some time. Noctis has begun to doubt Uncle Ardyn is ever coming back. 

That’s part of why he’s in the gardens again, sulking. His dad finds him right away.

“Noctis,” his dad says. “I need you to come with me. We’re going to the Throne Room this morning.”

“Why?” Noctis says, in honest curiosity. He isn’t ever allowed in the Throne Room. His dad does Important things there, and ‘it isn’t a place for children’. At least, that’s what he is told all the time. But if Dad is _fetching_ him to _go_ there… 

His sullen pout is replaced with excitement, and he slips his hand into his father’s big one and trots off with him -- with the King -- to the Throne Room.

* * *

What the King wants is nothing like what Noctis is expecting. 

There is a _boy_ in the Throne Room. 

He’s older than Noctis -- older, and taller, and dressed in a button-up and tan shorts and knee-high socks and leather shoes that look too fancy to play in. And Noctis doesn’t really understand everything his dad is saying about “cannot lead by standing still” or “pushing forward”, but he’s not talking to Noctis, he’s talking to this boy.

But Noctis does recognize “friend”, and he does recognize “brother”. Noctis doesn’t _have_ a brother -- and the thought that this serious boy, who wears glasses that magnify his green eyes and make them look brighter than any eyes Noctis has ever seen, can be his _brother_ is exciting and new, and when the boy reaches out a hand, Noctis takes it with a smile. 

* * *

The boy’s name is Ignis, and he is to spend his days with Noctis, playing and learning together. Noctis takes him by hand to the nursery and pulls out a board game they can play together -- his favorite, with bright colors and a path that snakes through a fanciful candy landscape. He cheerfully explains the rules, and Ignis picks it up quickly, because he’s smart. 

So they play… and then there’s a commotion in the hall. Ignis looks at the door with wide eyes, and Noctis thinks he might be nervous. 

Noct’s dad pushes the door open, and Uncle Ardyn follows. 

Noctis jumps up at once. “Uncle Ardyn!” he yells. He runs and jumps into Ardyn’s arms, and he lifts him up and twirls him around, and Noctis laughs.

Uncle Ardyn laughs too. “Noctis, my boy,” he says. Then he settles Noctis on his hip, and looks past him. “And this must be your chosen advisor,” he says.

Noctis looks over his shoulder and sees Ignis standing still and silent. Noctis thinks he might be afraid. 

Uncle Ardyn puts Noctis back on the floor, and he grabs Uncle Ardyn’s hand and tugs him over. “This is Iggy,” Noctis says, because ‘Ignis’ is a little tricky for his tongue to make. Then he turns to Ignis. “This is Uncle Ardyn.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Ignis says, almost too softly to hear. 

“The pleasure is all mine,” Uncle Ardyn says. He kneels and extends a hand for Ignis to shake, but Ignis stiffens and shifts away, clearly nervous.

“It’s okay,” Noctis says. “He won’t hurt you. He only hurts bad people. Right, Uncle Ardyn?”

“And only when they make it necessary,” Uncle Ardyn says, but he lets his hand drop and leans back on his heels. 

“Where have you _been?”_ Noctis scolds. “You’ve been gone ages and _ages.”_

“I know, and I’m awfully sorry,” Ardyn says. “But with things beyond the Wall the way that they are, your father thought it might be good for me to go abroad for a bit and see what was stirring up the daemons.”

Noctis gasps. “And did you find out?”

“I certainly did,” Uncle Ardyn said with a wink. 

“Wow!” Noctis breathes. “Tell me about it!” And he grabs Ardyn’s hand and pulls him over to the couch. His dad follows and stands behind the couch, and Noctis is only just aware of his dad's small smile as he listens, engrossed, to Ardyn’s tale about daemons massing beyond the wall, and the Empire stirring up a fuss. 

Noctis has heard rumors about all this, but doesn’t know what it all means… and his memory catches on something he’s heard in _other_ stories about the Empire and the old War with Lucis. “I thought Grandpa Mors stopped them already,” he says.

“He certainly made a good effort, that’s true,” Ardyn says.

“And you helped them.”

“Of course I did. I’ve helped _all_ the kings of Lucis, don’t you know.”

“Now, now, Uncle,” Noct’s dad cuts in. “No need to exaggerate.”

Ardyn leans in towards Noctis and whispers, “Your father _thinks_ I’m exaggerating, but it’s true.” 

Noctis giggles.

“But you know,” Ardyn continues, “Emperor Iedolas has many tricks up his sleeve, and this time he decided to make a new army. And he found a bad man to help him. Verstael Besithia. Doesn’t that sound like the name of the _worst_ kind of villain?” 

“It sure does,” Noctis breathes.

“And this bad man was using the daemons to make _soldiers._ Can you believe that?”

“No way!” 

“So your Uncle Ardyn went in and put a stop to it.”

“You told him to stop?” 

“... You could say that.”

Noct’s dad cuts in again. “I think that’s quite enough for one day, if you don’t mind, Uncle. No need to go into detail.”

“Of course,” Uncle Ardyn says, and laughs at Noct’s disappointed groan.

“Please, Dad?” Noctis whines.

“When you’re older.” His dad’s tone is firm, and Noctis knows he won’t budge. But maybe he can convince Ardyn to tell him some other time.

“I brought you a companion,” Ardyn says. “You’ll meet him later, perhaps.” 

Noct’s heart lifts again. Another companion! He had Ignis, and now he’d have another friend! “Later?”

“He’s not feeling well after his long journey,” Ardyn explains. “But he’ll be made right soon -- and when he’s feeling better, perhaps we could arrange a little playdate. He could use some friends.”

“Promise?” Noctis says, clapping his hands together. 

“We need to make sure he’s completely well,” Noct’s dad says. “But once everything checks out, of course.”

“What’s his name?” Noctis asks. 

“He doesn’t have one yet,” Uncle Ardyn says.

Noctis scrunches up his nose. “He doesn’t have a _name?”_

“Maybe you can help him come up with something suitable. Do you think you’re ready for a big job like that?”

Noctis draws himself up tall. “I’m going to be king someday,” he says. “I _need_ to be ready for big jobs.” 

He doesn’t know why that makes the grown-ups chuckle. He’s serious.

“Well, this will be the perfect time to start,” Uncle Ardyn says. “You might want to meet him before you decide on one, but perhaps you could be thinking of some good names now, so you’ll have a variety to choose from later.” 

“Oh yeah! I can do that.” Noctis hops off Ardyn’s lap and runs to the little craft table in the corner, where they kept paper and crayons and pencils. Noctis has been practicing his writing, and is eager to show Uncle Ardyn how his letters are coming. Ignis follows slowly, and watches over his shoulder. 

Behind them, the adults have settled onto the couch, and are talking softly enough that Noctis almost can’t hear. 

He stares at the paper. “How do you spell ‘Caius’?” he asks, and looks over his shoulder at Ignis. 

“... C,” Ignis says, and Noctis painstakingly draws a C.

“So you weren’t entirely forthcoming about the fate of Besithia’s army, even with me,” Noct’s dad says.

“There’s not much to tell,” Ardyn answers.

“A,” Ignis supplies, and Noctis starts on an A.

“Surely you’re not absorbing the scourge yourself. You told me you’d stopped that long ago.”

“Of course. This operation required nothing so subtle.”

“Tell me I will not be hearing about this on the news,” Noct’s dad says.

“I make no promises.”

Ignis supplies the letters, and Noctis carefully makes them on the paper until ‘Caius’ is done, then he adds ‘Terra’ and ‘Tellus’ and ‘Prompto’ while the grown-ups chatter with each other. Ignis offers some suggestions of his own, and Noctis adds them with Ignis’s spelling help, and he tunes out what the grown-ups are saying until his dad raises his voice.

“You _blew up_ the Empire’s Magitek Research Facility?” Dad is angry, even though he’s keeping his voice low. “How are we going to avoid the political repercussions?”

Noctis looks over his shoulder at them.

“I know what I’m about,” Ardyn says, raising his hands. “I left nothing to suggest that Lucis could be in any way responsible.”

“You made it look like an accident,” Noct’s dad says.

And now Noctis knows there’s a _story_ here. He’ll have to ask Uncle Ardyn sometime; he can always convince him to tell stories, even when it’s one Noctis knows his dad would rather he not hear.

“That’s not how you spell ‘Ventus’,” Ignis says. “It’s spelled with a ‘u’ and not an ‘i’.” 

“Oh,” Noctis says. But he’s already written it, and he used a crayon; it can’t erase. He leaves it there. 

Ignis makes a frustrated noise -- and that’s when Noctis realizes… having a brother may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

* * *

Pretty soon Ignis is bossing Noctis around. A lot.

He talks to Noctis about _posture_ and talks to him about _courtesy_ and talks about _decorum_ and _eating his vegetables_ and _the right way to do things._ Even when they’re supposed to be having fun.

“That’s not how the game is _played,_ Noct,” Ignis says, when Noctis sets out his favorite card game. He’s played the game with one of his nursemaids, and he sets the cards out in something like the way she does. Ignis, meanwhile, pulls out the little folded paper nestled in the box with the cards.

Ignis, it turns out, can _read._ Noctis can’t yet -- not well enough for _this --_ and that isn’t fair. 

“Each player should be dealt a hand of five cards,” Ignis says, “and the draw pile should be set between us.”

“But that’s not how I played it with Nana,” Noctis says, heat rising in his belly. It doesn’t matter whether it is anger or embarrassment that he can’t read yet; he doesn’t think Ignis should tell him what to do. Ignis is supposed to be his _friend._

Ignis is supposed to be his _brother._

… Noctis thinks maybe brothers are supposed to argue now and then, and he guesses this is as good a time as any. 

In the ensuing tantrum, Noctis throws a lot of things and yells a lot of things, and Ignis yells back (a little bit, and only when Noctis knocks his glasses off with a book), but in the end, it’s Noctis who gets a talking-to and has to spend the rest of the afternoon in his bedroom with just his Nana for company. And he doesn’t think it’s fair that Ignis gets a hug and a cookie before he goes home for the day, and Noctis has extra lessons and chores, and has to eat ALL of his green beans, and his father watches to make sure he doesn’t send any of them away with magic before they go in his mouth and he swallows them.

* * *

There are 4 constants in Noct’s short life.

One: his parents are always (sometimes) there for him when he needs them.

Two: when they aren’t, he has his nannies.

Three: Uncle Ardyn is just as strange as ever.

Four: IGNIS IS A POOPY-HEAD.

* * *

One morning Noctis is awakened by his nanny instead of his mother. 

His mom likes to spend the first part of the morning with him, unless something calls her away, and Noctis loves that quiet time with her helping him dress. But this morning, it doesn’t happen. He has breakfast in his nursery as usual, does his lessons as usual, has lunch with Ignis as usual, but something is off.

He can hear the servants whispering when they don’t think he’s paying attention.

Ignis pays more attention to this sort of thing, and when he starts to look uneasy, Noctis gets nervous. 

After lunch, Noct’s father comes to the nursery. He doesn’t look right. He doesn’t look right, and so Noctis is quieter than usual. 

Ignis stands at attention, like he does whenever Noct’s dad comes to see them.

“My apologies, Ignis,” the King says. “I must take Noctis to see his mother.”

Ignis nods, and Noctis quietly takes his father’s hand, and together they walk out of the nursery.

* * *

_She’s very sick,_ they say. _Nothing to be done,_ he hears people whisper. 

And, when they think he can’t hear, _The poor boy, the poor boy, the poor boy._

Noctis comes upon his father and Uncle Ardyn one day, speaking in the hallway. They don’t see him at first, and in that way grown-ups have, their expressions are different when they think he’s not looking. His father’s face is pinched, like he’s been crying -- but grown-ups don’t cry. Uncle Ardyn looks both angry and sad, and Noctis just catches him saying “... but I’m a _healer,_ I should be able to _cure_ her--” 

He stops when he sees Noctis, and presses his lips closed in a thin line. Noct’s dad turns, and for a minute Noctis blinks up at both of them, thinking he’s stopped something important. Then Uncle Ardyn kneels in front of Noctis and places his hands on Noct’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, little one,” he says.

Noctis doesn’t understand what he’s sorry for.

Every morning for a long time he follows his father into the hospital wing to visit his mother, and she looks more pale and gaunt every time he sees her. One day when he visits, she’s not even awake to say hello.

The next day, he and his dad _don’t_ go visit her. His dad comes into the nursery and enfolds him in a tight hug, and doesn’t let go, and doesn’t let go, and doesn’t let go… and then his dad is shaking, taking little hiccupping breaths, lacing his fingers into Noct’s hair. Noctis doesn't quite know what is wrong, but he hugs his dad as tightly as he can, and pats him on the back and says, “It’s okay,” the way his mom sometimes does when he cries. It doesn’t seem to help.

They don’t go to visit his mother again.

There’s a day when he has to get dressed up fancy, and he stands between his dad and Uncle Ardyn in the Throne Room near a large long box covered with flowers, and a line of people out the door files past them to say things like “she will be missed” and “we’re so sorry for your loss”.

Noctis doesn’t quite understand what it all means, except that his mother doesn’t come to help him dress anymore, and he misses that. And he misses her. And he misses the spark of joy in his father’s face; it’s replaced by something sad that never goes away.

There are many days that Noctis doesn’t even see his dad, now. Where he doesn’t leave the nursery, and only sees his Nana and Ignis. There’s a feeling that the sun has set on the world, and is never coming back up again.

* * *

There are three constants in Noct’s life.

He has his Nana.

He has Uncle Ardyn.

He has Ignis.

* * *

It’s a lot of days later. Noctis seldom sees his dad anymore, and when he does, his dad looks at him with sad eyes and doesn’t say very much. Sometimes they have breakfast together, or lunch. Sometimes Noctis gets all dressed up fancy and is taken to the banquet hall and it’s full of tables and people and he is set in a seat by his dad and has to try to eat a plate full of fancy foods and he does his best. 

He’s been practicing. Ignis doesn’t have to scold him as much anymore. Maybe if he gets it perfectly, he’ll see his dad more. 

He thinks about his mom a lot. He wishes she was here. Sometimes he cries when he thinks about her, but he tries to do it when no one is there to ask him what’s wrong, because he doesn’t want to say -- because when he _does_ say, their faces get sad, too, and they say things like “poor boy” and he doesn’t like it.

He especially tries not to cry when his dad would see. 

It is one of these days, when Ignis has been called away to lessons and Noctis is alone in the nursery, and he’s taken a moment to cry about his mother, that there’s a warning knock on the door, and then Uncle Ardyn comes in. 

“May I enter?” he says.

Noctis wipes at his face before he turns to the door and nods his head. (He only nods, because he’s afraid to speak, for fear of his voice squeaking, because he’s been crying.) 

But even though Noctis has wiped his face, as soon as Uncle Ardyn sees him, his face gets soft and sad, and he says, “Oh dear heart.” 

Uncle Ardyn only says “dear heart” when he’s trying to make Noctis feel better. There’s nothing Noctis needs to feel better _from._ He pouts, but before he can say anything, he sees that Uncle Ardyn is not alone. 

There’s a boy, hiding behind Uncle Ardyn, clinging to his trousers and peering around Ardyn’s leg with wide blue eyes. When he sees Noctis looking, he blinks.

In his curiosity, Noctis forgets that he was crying and why. 

Uncle Ardyn must see when Noctis has noticed the new boy, because he turns and puts a hand on the boy’s shoulder and nudges him out of hiding. “Noctis, I would like to introduce you to a new companion.”

Noctis thinks a moment, and then says, “Is this the friend you told me about? Before?” 

Uncle Ardyn hums. “Indeed,” he said. “He has been ill for some time, but he’s feeling better now, and we all thought he could use someone to play with.” 

The boy isn’t looking at Noctis anymore; his wide blue eyes are looking around the room. He doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t look sad, either. He looks blank -- like a sheet of paper with nothing drawn on it yet. 

Noctis walks closer. “Hi,” he says. 

The boy looks at him, unblinking and unsmiling. 

Noctis knows how to introduce himself. He’s had to do it a lot. “My name’s Noctis,” he says. “What’s yours?” 

The boy just looks at Noctis with his wide eyes. 

Uncle Ardyn chuckles. “He doesn’t have a name to tell you yet, remember?” 

And Noctis does. He remembers thinking it odd that a boy should have no name. Noctis has always had a name; he can’t remember a time when he _didn’t,_ and he thought everyone _came_ with names. But he also remembers the list that Ignis helped him write (before Ignis got bossy), and Noctis runs to his little craft table and searches through the stack of used paper before he finds the one with the names written on it.

Noctis grabs it and waves it over his head while he runs back over to Uncle Ardyn and the boy -- and stops when the boy scrambles backwards. His face is still that blank slate, but his eyes are wider now.

“Oh dear dear dear,” Uncle Ardyn said, and kneels down. “There’s nothing to be frightened of, young one.” He reaches out a hand, and the boy hesitates, then puts his own in Ardyn’s, and Ardyn draws him nearer.

Noctis stands still, uncertainly clutching the paper.

"It's all right, Noctis," Uncle Ardyn says. "He's just not used to people yet, But he's coming along. Young one," he says, addressing the boy, "this is Noctis, and he's been waiting to meet you."

The boy turns his blue eyes up towards Uncle Ardyn, and slowly points at himself.

Uncle Ardyn nods, and the boy's eyes get wide and his head jerks back to Noctis. 

Noctis takes that as invitation enough. He holds the paper out. "Uncle Ardyn said you don't have a name," he says. "I have a list, if you want to pick one." 

The boy stares at the paper, a little like he's afraid it will bite him. It's the closest thing to a feeling Noctis has seen on him, and it's fear. Noctis doesn't like that.

"It's okay," he says. "It won't bite you."

"I fear your new young friend may not know how to read," Uncle Ardyn says gently.

Noctis tries to hide his surprise. He's already learned a little, but this boy does look a little smaller than he is. Maybe he's not big enough to learn yet. "That's okay," he says, remembering how much he hates it that Ignis can read more than he can. "I can help you. C'mere."

Noctis grabs the boy's bandaged wrist and pays no mind when the boy flinches; he just pulls him along to the sofa, and climbs up on it. When the boy doesn't follow him, Noctis pats the cushion next to him. 

The boy hesitates a moment, then climbs up and sits beside Noctis, stiff and straight, with his fists clenched at his thighs.

Noctis thrusts the paper at him. "See? Iggy helped me write it." 

The boy stares at the paper and doesn't say anything, so Noctis pulls the paper back and points at the first name. "Caius," he reads. "Does that sound good?" 

The boy stares at him.

Noctis takes that as a no. "What about Terra?"

The boy blinks at him, and that's better than nothing, but isn't really an answer, so Noctis keeps going. He carefully reads through the whole list and the boy doesn't react any more strongly to any of the other suggestions, but he _does_ kind of wiggle when Noctis gets to 'Prompto'. So when they get through the whole list and the boy didn't pick anything at all, Noctis scrunches up his nose. 

"I'll call you Prompto," he says. When the boy just blinks at him, he squirms. "You gotta have a name so I have something to call you," he says in pleading explanation. 

That done, he lets the paper fall on the couch cushion. "Whaddya wanna do, Prompto?” When the boy doesn’t say anything, Noctis thinks for a moment, and then shouts, “I know!"

He hops off the couch and heads towards the big bin full of plushes that Ignis had just helped him tidy up that morning. He pulls out the behemoth that's nearly half his size, and grabs a couple plastic action figures from another bin, and excitedly pantomimes a battle between them. Prompto watches, eyes wide, but doesn't leave his seat on the couch. 

After some time, just as Noctis is starting to tire of doing this alone, the nursery door opens. Noctis doesn't see who it is, because Uncle Ardyn (who has been silently watching their play from a chair) stands in a rush. 

"Well, my little bird, it's time for your new friend to get some rest. He's not quite fully recovered…" 

"Will you come back soon?" Noctis asks eagerly, leaning toward Prompto as he does. 

Prompto doesn't move, but stares at him with wide eyes.

"I'll bring him again another day," Ardyn says. "In the meantime…" He raises a hand to Prompto, and the boy slips down from the couch and takes it.

And then Noct's nanny comes into view, her arms full of books. Noctis groans.

"Perhaps your friend can join you for lessons soon," Uncle Ardyn says. 

The prospect of not having lessons alone is exciting; it would be nice to not be the only one learning. "Will you, Prompto?" Noctis asks.

Prompto looks back at him.

"Prompto, hmmm?" Uncle Ardyn says. "Come, Prompto; your afternoon appointment awaits."

And then they're gone.

* * *

It’s later, after his lessons are mostly over, that Noctis realizes he completely forgot about crying for his mom.

* * *

Prompto becomes a regular visitor after that. At first Noctis doesn't know what to do with him, because he doesn't speak and doesn't join in his play. He just watches Noctis with wide eyes like an owl. But Noct's dad tells him to be kind, and Noctis does his best.

Sometimes Ignis is with them, but mostly Prompto comes when Ignis has his own lessons, which happen more and more often now. Ignis has a lot of things to learn, Noctis is told, and won’t have as much time to play. Noctis decides that’s all right, because having Prompto there is… well, it’s not _just_ as good, but it’s better than playing by himself.

Prompto doesn't come one day. Uncle Ardyn comes in alone, and sits Noctis beside him on the sofa. 

"Prompto is ill today and can't make it," he says. "But I want to thank you for being such a good companion to him."

"But he never says anything and doesn't really play with me," Noctis says quietly, looking at his feet.

"Where he came from, he didn't learn to play or speak," Uncle Ardyn says.

"Oh," Noctis says, and can't imagine a place where no one speaks or plays. 

"With your guidance," Uncle Ardyn says, "I'm sure he'll learn those things soon."

"Okay," Noctis says. 

The next time Prompto comes, Ignis is there, too -- and Ignis suggests they start by teaching Prompto the names of all the things in the nursery. 

By the time Uncle Ardyn returns to take Prompto away, the three of them (actually just Noctis and Ignis) have scattered all their games and toys hither and yon, and are nearly to the bottom of the bin full of plushes. Noctis is pulling them out one at a time to hand to Prompto, who takes them timidly and flexes his hands against their softness. Then Ignis says what they are.

"Tonberry."

"Moogle."

“Behemoth.”

“Zu.”

They’re nearly to the bottom of the bin when Noctis finds a large, soft, round, yellow thing that he really hasn’t seen in ages, because they seldom get down this far in the bin. It’s a Chocobo, with lots and lots of fluff, and with its dangly legs it’s as long as Noctis is tall, and it’s so, so soft, and Noctis has had it for as long as he can remember, but it’s never been his favorite. 

As soon as he pulls it from the bin, though, Prompto’s eyes go as wide as Noctis has ever seen them go, and his mouth makes a little “o”, and he doesn’t wait for Noctis to hand it over; he reaches out for it himself. He takes it reverently, and wraps his arms around it, and buries his face in the fluff.

For a moment, Noctis and Ignis just stare. This is more of a reaction than Prompto has shown to anything they’ve given him in all the days he’s come to play. 

Prompto pulls his face out of the fluff to look at the Chocobo in his arms, and then turns his face to Ignis, expectantly. 

“Er… that’s. That’s a chocobo.”

“Nnn?” Prompto says. It’s the first noise they’ve ever heard him make.

“Chocobo,” Ignis repeats.

“Boco,” Prompto says.

Ignis looks stunned. “That’s--”

“That’s right! Chocobo!” Noctis interrupts with a grin -- because Ignis would try to be Right again, and Noctis is just glad that Prompto has said anything at all. Then he thinks for a moment. “You can have it.” 

Prompto looks at him, then down at the chocobo, and Noctis is satisfied until Uncle Ardyn comes to get Prompto later, and Prompto tries to hand the chocobo back.

“Oh, no,” Noctis says, pushing it back into Prompto’s arms. “It’s yours now. You can have it.” 

Prompto actually looks confused for a moment, but then he seems to understand, and he holds the chocobo even closer. Uncle Ardyn looks pleased, and Prompto holds the chocobo tight as he follows Uncle Ardyn out of the room.

* * *

After that, things change again.

When Prompto comes to visit, he brings the chocobo with him, and sets it in a chair or on the couch, where it can watch what they’re doing. 

Prompto follows them in whatever activity Noctis (or Ignis, sometimes) has decided they will do that day. And Prompto is more expressive now. He still doesn’t say much, but every once in a while he’ll repeat a word or two, and sometimes when they’re playing with the plushes or making the action figures fight, his mouth turns up in something almost like a smile. 

* * *

Noct’s dad comes to the nursery one day and Noctis looks up in time to see him smiling at them, where they’re playing together. 

Uncle Ardyn is already there -- as he usually is, when he brings Prompto to play. Noctis doesn’t pay much attention to them, because he’s teaching Prompto how to play his candy-colored board game. It’s simple, with simple colors that Prompto repeats every time a card is pulled -- “Blue! Green! Red!” 

“They seem to be getting along quite well,” Noct’s dad says. 

“Indeed,” Uncle Ardyn answers. “He’s making remarkable progress; I’m very pleased.” 

“I do believe this exercise has been helpful for Noctis, as well. He has brightened considerably.”

“I must confess, I had hoped that Noctis would also benefit.”

There’s a long pause, broken only by Prompto’s “Yellow! Green!” as they play. Then, so softly that Noctis barely hears it… 

“Thank you, Uncle.”

There’s another pause. 

“Come now, Nephew, you know I would do all I could, to help you in your time of need.” 

Noct’s dad makes a soft noise -- but it’s overshadowed by a sudden sound that takes all of them by surprise…

Prompto laughs.

Noctis laughs, too.

* * *

There are four constants in Noct’s life.

The first is his dad.

The second is Ignis.

The third is his crazy Uncle Ardyn.

And the fourth is his new friend, Prompto.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, Gladio-loving friends -- Gladio doesn't make an appearance in this fic, but only because Noct's still too young. Gladio will be another constant in his life soon enough.


End file.
